Anteiku
by Kira31
Summary: What if Anteiku was not simply another cafe to Kaneki? What if he spent time at the cafe, formed bonds with the people, how would that change his destiny? All because of a simple cafe known as Anteiku.
1. Chapter 1

**20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, August**

It was a cool fall day in the twentieth ward, a lazy wind blew through the afternoon streets, rustling the few leaves that had already fallen from the trees. This lead to a good day of business at a small cafe known as Anteiku, with many stopping for a cup of coffee after hard days of studying or work. Many would describe this as a peaceful, perfect fall day.

However, for one young boy this would be a day that would haunt his dreams for years to come. On this day, as he returned home, face full of hope and excitement to see his mother, a face that would soon turn on its head as he found his mother unmoving, unfeeling, leaning on her desk, an unfinished paper flower in her cold hands. After that had been a flurry of events that the boy moved through without thinking. Finally, the Police officers that had arrived had decided to take the boy to the station, hoping to find a next of kin that would take him in.

Normally, the two would take the boy straight there, and then continue with their patrols, but on this day, as they drove past a certain cafe, the two decided to make a stop, figuring the young boy with them could use something to drink and eat. And so, the two police men and the boy with dead eyes entered the cafe.

And changed the events of the tragedy waiting to unfold.

* * *

Kaneki Ken lazily swung his eyes around the room he was in, not being able to have the energy to force enthusiasm into his motion. He saw the various patrons, noticing some becoming relaxed at the police presence, while some began whispering amongst themselves. At the counter, wiping cups was an older man, who had a gentle smile on his face as he performed the monotonous task. After finishing the cup he had been cleaning, the man made his way to the table Ken was sitting at.

He gave a short glance to Ken, before looking at the two men and asked "Hello, welcome to Anteiku gentlemen. What can I get for you?"

One of the police men returned the smile the older man seemed to have permanently on his face and said "Hello, one black coffee for me, an espresso for my partner, a cup of milk for the little one here, and a plate of sandwiches please."

The man gave a brief nod, writing down the order, before noticing the blank look on the boys face, and saying to him with a small, almost understanding, smile and said "If you want to walk around, I'm sure you can find something to interest you while you wait." Before walking away before the boy could respond.

Kaneki began to wander the small cafe, entertaining himself by staring at the many cups on the shelves behind the bar. He noticed a book on a nearby table, without thinking he walked to the book and picked it up, flipping through the pages before stopping and reading at a random point. As he went he noticed this was no normal book, the words in it more complex than he was used to, and as a result he began trying to pronounce the parts of the kanji of the words he did not know, trying to understand the mysterious words.

Kaneki was drawn out of his reading by the clinking of a glass, when he looked up the older man was standing next to him, a glass of milk on the table in front of Ken. The older man crouched down to be on the same level as Ken and looked at where Ken stopped his finger, the man looked confused for a moment before a look of understanding washed over him. In his wizened voice he said "Ah, that is a tricky word, it is _natsukashii_ and it used to be read as 'beloved' but now it is mainly used to mean 'a longing for the past'." The man then turned to see if Ken understood, but was met with a very different sight.

Ken's eyes were glassy, a film of water almost appearing to cover them, his lower lip trembled, and if one had great enough hearing, they could hear his heart speeding up. The man helping him pronounce and understand the word had brought the painful memories of today to the front of his brain, demanding that he face and acknowledge them. Forced to remember the feel of her cold, paper thin skin on his own, the peaceful look on her face, as if she was merely sleeping and would soon wake up.

Finally, the cap on the dam broke, tears streamed down the boys face, a ghastly wail ripped itself from his throat and he threw himself against the nearest thing, in this case the older mans chest. Despite Ken's face now in the mans chest, it did nothing to muffle the wail from the boy, a wail that only comes from those who have realized they have lost everything dear to them, that they had nothing yet. The older man recognized such a wail, and began to rub the boys back, not saying anything, just letting the boy let out his pent up feelings in relative peace.

When the boy finally began to calm down, with those in the cafe either purposefully looking away of staring down at their laps, the old man said to Ken "I don't know what you have gone through young one, but there will always be a home waiting here for you." Before he passed the still quivering boy to the police officers, and waved goodbye to them.

* * *

 **20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, December**

Kaneki Ken was miserable.

The past two months had been the worst times of his life, his mother dying, living with an aunt that was stricter with him than he had ever seen, and his exclusion from what was supposed to be a kind loving family. His aunt treated every mistake Ken made as being the worst possible thing he could have done, even something as simple as not setting the table perfectly resulted in Ken being placed in time out while the rest of the family ate, his dinner cold by the time he was allowed to eat.

His cousin ignored Ken every chance he got, the older boy preferring to spend time with his friends or on his video games, than the strange cousin who showed up in his house one day. Ken had even been on the receiving end of some glares from his cousin the first week, the boy muttering about "Stupid cousin taking my toy room", but this eventually stopped as the boy opted to merely pretend like the invading family member did not exist, which certainly wasn't helped by his fathers attitude.

Ken's uncle was rarely at the home, spending most of his time at the office or a place that his wife always yelled at him about. For the rare times that he was home, he did little to nothing with Ken, everything Ken asked of him would be deflected to his aunt, who would then punish Ken for asking for more things.

One of the main reasons Ken had been able to keep his head up during these times, along with the words his mother had given him, was a new friend he had made recently. Nagachika Hideyoshi, or Hide as the boy had all but demanded Ken call him. Hide had been a true friend during this time for Ken, not saying a word when he had broken down in front of him, only hugging him and providing a shoulder to cry on. He hadn't told Hide what had caused the breakdown yet, but the boy seemed to have noticed, with Ken coming into class later than normal due to the longer commute and leaving the park they played at earlier to make it home in time.

But today, as Ken walked home from school, Hide wasn't able to play and had to rush home. As Ken trudged through the snow laden sidewalk, he was looking for anything to take his attention away from his destination. He had tried to spend time in some stores along his walk home, doing anything to delay his return, knowing all that was waiting for him was reprimands and cold looks. As he walked through unfamiliar roads, it came to Ken's attention that he had taken a wrong turn, and yet he couldn't find the effort to truly care. With a heavy sigh he decided to find a train station so he could figure out where exactly in Tokyo he was.

However, as he walked past one building, a familiar scent wafted into his nose, the scent of freshly ground coffee beans. While Ken would normally not be able to tell the coffee of one place from another, he didn't even drink the bitter beverage, this scent had taken a large place in his mind. Turning, he saw a building that seemed as if it was from a lifetime ago, despite his last visit only having been a few months in the past. From the front it seemed to be a simple place, no large ornate signs advertising the establishment or special deals, just a simple post with the cafe's name, Anteiku.

Ken hesitated at the door, one the one hand he should make his way home quickly as he had no idea how long it would take him to find his way home. But on the other, he was in no hurry to return to a house that would either punish him for merely existing, or ignore said existence entirely, and he was feeling pretty cold after walking in the city. 'Besides' he rationalized as he cautiously opened the door and entered the building, 'There is probably someone in here that can give me directions'

As he walked in a few heads turned to look at the new arrival, and a few eyebrows were raised at a child walking in by themselves. But, for the most part Ken was ignored as he slowly shuffled in, looking at the counter he saw the old man from his previous visit talking to a woman in a suit. The man briefly turned his gaze to Ken, his eyes widening, he whispered something to the woman before walking through the doorway, into the back of the building. The woman began to walk up to Ken, and in that time he was able to gain a good look at her appearance, she was tall, at least compared to Ken, with straight black hair parted at her forehead going down her back, she wore a white dress shirt with a black vest and tie. As she reached Ken she crouched down to his level and smiled, before offering her hand.

Ken cautiously placed his hand in her own, and with slow grace stood and began to lead Ken to a table within sight of the counter. She sat down across from him after making sure he was in his seat, and in a soft voice said "Hello young man, the manager wanted me to take care of you for him, he had to go run some errands. What's your name by the way, the manager didn't ask last time did he?"

Ken looked down at his lap as his cheeks dusted pink at the memory of how he had left the cafe last time, before he managed to get out "Um, I'm Kaneki Ken, and no he didn't. Um, how did he remember who I am, Miss..." Ken trailed off as he realized he did not know the woman's name, and began to scan her uniform for a name tag.

The woman chuckled and waved off Ken's attempts to find her name, before saying "Oh, sorry about that Kaneki-san, my name is Irimi. And as for the manager remembering you, let's just say he never forgets a face." At this she gave a conspiratorial wink at Ken who giggled at the silly action. She then asked "Is there anything I can get you Kaneki-san? Something to drink?"

Ken quickly began to shake his head no, not wanting to bother the woman, when he suddenly began to breathe in quickly, "Ah, Ah, Achoo!" A violent sneeze ripped through the boys body, with Ken barely able to turn his head away from Irimi.

Irimi gave him an amused look before standing and saying "I think I have just the thing." She then walked to the counter and began making a drink, leaving Ken in his seat, cheeks still pink in embarrassment. After a few moments she walked back over and placed the drink in front of Ken, saying "On the house." as she did.

Ken looked at the drink in front of him, unable to determine what the black liquid was, before the scent drifted into his nose, one that was largely sweet with just a hint of bitter. After blowing on it he took a small sip that confirmed his thoughts, the taste of a hot, but not scathing, chocolate washed over his taste buds. After sighing he whispered "Thank you Irimi-san" before drinking more, relishing the warmth that spread through his body.

Thus, Ken spent the rest of the afternoon and a part of his evening in the cafe, Irimi helping him with his homework as she tended to the customers. By the time Ken was ready to return home, night was beginning to set in with the light posts bathing the streets in their artificial glow. As Ken packed up, Irimi gave the keys to a larger man who began to work alongside her as the day wore on, and told him to lock up. She then walked with the young boy home, even going so far as to pay for a train trip for the both of them.

Arriving at his home, Irimi checked to make sure he had everything, having done so both when they exited the cafe and train. After assuring both Ken and herself that he had everything she said "Well, goodnight Ken, and remember, you can stop by Anteiku anytime you want. Although next time I may have you on dish washing duty for your hot chocolate." Chuckling at her joke she watched Ken walk into his house before making her own way home, keeping a steady pace through the tranquil streets.

At home Ken found his family sitting down to dinner, his aunt yelling at him and demanding to know where he had been. For a moment, Ken was hopeful that they had genuinely cared about his well being, however that faded when a simple lie of Ken being at his friends house caused her to drop the case. After this simple night, Ken's life would be changed drastically, though he had no idea of it at all. He began to spend more and more time at the cafe, even introducing Hide to it as well. Thus, Kaneki Ken began to become acclimated to the life of Anteiku, and in turn grew closer to the workers as well.

All of this, because of a a simple pair of police officers, who decided to visit a simple cafe.

* * *

Authors note: Hello everyone! I have been wanting to do a Tokyo Ghoul story for a long time, and this plot just jumped out at me! So, we have Kaneki being involved with Anteiku a lot earlier than normal, how will that change things? Let's find out in the next chapter!

 _Preview:_

 _"Kaneki-kun, I'm putting you in charge of training our newest employee."_

 _"Stay out of my way"_

 **Next time, "Tenure at Anteiku"**


	2. Tenure at Anteiku

**20th Ward, Tokyo Japan 20th December**

Ken Kaneki heaved a large sigh as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, using the time to brush some stray snow from his shoulders. Ken walked through the light afternoon snowfall, eager to arrive at his destination. Many bystanders would write the boy off as a young man eager to get home for whatever activities he had planned for that day, however to those who truly knew Ken, granted the number of those who could claim to call themselves such could be counted on one hand, they would know Ken was actually walking away from his home. For the past four years, Ken had spent as little amount of time as possible at his aunt's house, and as much as he could at the cafe that became a home away from home for the young man, becoming close to the staff of the cafe as well. Every day after school Ken would walk the long distance from his school to the cafe, sometimes accompanied by Hide, where he would spend the afternoon doing his schoolwork, with the occasional help of the staff, spend time reading, and talking with the staff if it was a particularly slow day. He glanced up at the sky, thinking about the bonds he had been able to form with the workers at Anteiku.

His thoughts first turned to Irimi Kaya, the worker who he spent most of his time with. The woman had walked him home every chance she had since that fateful date four years ago, ensuring he made it inside the house before walking away. When he had asked her if it wasn't tedious to do it, or if she wouldn't rather just go to her home, she had laughed him off and said that she liked walking him home, and it made her feel like an older sister, making sure the younger sibling gets home from school safe. Since then, it has become a tradition for the two of them, whenever Irimi's shift would end, she would walk Ken home, after double checking that he had finished his homework. Whenever Irimi would not be working, she left the duty of walking Ken home to Enji Koma.

Ken and Enji's first meeting had been, eventful to say the least. Even now, thinking about it brought a snicker to Ken's lips.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Ken didn't know what to think, as he saw Irimi-san talking to the man behind the counter, her bag on her shoulder and in casual clothing as opposed to the formal wear he had normally seen her wear. Finally she turned and walked over to Ken, giving him a small smile she said "Now Kaneki-kun, I'm off today, so I can't walk you home later. Instead, Enji-san will."_

 _She then motioned the man to come forward, the first thing Ken noticed was the mans large nose, that seemed like it was swelling from something, as well as the mans odd hairstyle. He gave a large, goofy grin before thrusting his hand toward Ken and said "Hi there Kaneki-san! My name is Koma Enji, but just call me Enji! Go ahead and make yourself at home, and if you need anything don't be afraid to call!"_

 _Ken looked over at Irimi, his face a mixture of apprehension and sheer shock, Irimi could only shrug her shoulders, say goodbye to Ken, and leave, with Ken now in the care of Enji. The man, for the most part, helped the customers around the cafe, leaving Ken to himself. However, as a lull appeared in his duties, Enji came over to Ken's table, and seeing the clearly uncomfortable boy, an idea appeared in his head. He had a sly smirk on his face as he said "Say Kaneki-san, have you heard of the story of the monkey and the Great Mountain?"_

 _At the boys inquisitive stare he shook his head in mock disgust and said "Honestly what are they teaching you kids these days?" He then took a seat at the table and continued "Well, it all starts on the Great Mountain with a very handsome and strong monkey."_

 _Flashback End_

* * *

Enji then told Ken the story of the monkey uniting other mountain creatures under him, with all of them working together. Everytime Ken was watched by Enji he would look forward to the stories he would be told, whether it was about fights between the monkey and a group of hounds that also lived on the mountain, avoiding trappers who came to the area, or about a wise owl that ended all fighting on the mountain once and for all.

Ken became so enthralled in these stories that he even began writing notes about them down, though he fervently denied this when Enji saw him. Ken had shared the stories with Hide who said they sounded like a childrens book or a shounen manga, he couldn't decide which. For now, these notes were still in a carefully kept notebook, but Ken would sometimes take it out and look over the notes, smiling as remembered the fun he would have at the cafe, even while at home.

While he may have spent more time with Irimi and Enji, Ken also valued the time he spent with the kindly owner of the cafe who Ken learned was named Yoshimura. Whenever he got the chance he would talk to the older man, telling him about school, his and Hide's recent actions, and he sometimes even got advice as well. Just in this past year he had encouraged the otherwise shy boy to ask out his crush, she had turned him down, but Yoshimura simply comforted him by saying it was better for his feelings to be known, then to live in doubt. Yoshimura had even begun to teach the boy how to grind the coffee beans, something he had learned with rapt attention.

While Ken had been grinding the beans, he had discovered something he doubted many customers knew, that there were three people that sometimes were in the back of the shop, but never the front. The first was a tall man, who had silvery greyish hair, a stern look on his face, and always wore an overcoat, even in the summer. Ken did not know what the man did at Anteiku, though he had overheard a conversation between the man and Yoshimura, talking about "the next shipment" so Ken assumed the man bought supplies for the cafe, which confused Ken, as the store was small, and he didn't think they would have someone specifically for buying what they needed, he thought either Yoshimura or one of the workers did that.

The other two were particularly interesting for Kaneki, he had only caught glimpses of them, but ever since he had first saw them he had made sure to keep an eye out. They were two children, explained as being distant relatives of Yoshimura by Irimi when he had asked, an older sister that looked to be around Ken's age, and a boy that looked to be a few years younger than him. Ken had not been able to get a good look at either of them, due to them both only peering around corners and pulling back when they noticed Ken watching them. From what he had seen the sister had shortish blue hair, while her brother had his spiked. Ken had been curious as to why they were staying with Yoshimura, and for how long at that, but had decided not to pry, not wanting to anger Yoshimura or any of the other workers with questions that were too personal.

Ken was soon in sight of Anteiku, which took him out of his musings, and he began to speed up, a grin forming on his face. Yoshimura had said today he would begin to teach Ken how to brew coffee, and had closed the cafe to allow the first lesson to be private.

As Ken opened the door, he was surprised to smell the scent of freshly brewed coffee, but simply assumed that Yoshimura had brewed himself a cup while waiting. When he walked in, the room was dark, with all the blinds being closed, before lights were quickly flipped on and a chorus of "Happy birthday!" 's rung out. As Ken blinked, his eyes readjusting themselves, he was stunned to see what was in front of him.

Most of the tables had been pushed away from the front area, leaving a large amount of room to walk in, streamers hung from the ceiling, and in front of him he could see Irimi and Enji, both with part hats on with noisemakers ready to be used. Behind them he could see Hide breathing a little heavy, but his normal grin stretched across his face at seeing Ken standing there, shocked out of his mind. From the corner of Ken's eye he could see Yoshimura sipping from a cup of fresh coffee, a small smile, whether from Ken's reaction or the taste of the coffee he did not know.

Ken took a hesitant step forward, barely able to let out a "Wha-?" before Hide rushed forward, wrapping his friend in a large hug, practically lifting him off of his feet as he laughed with glee.

"You didn't think we would just forget about your birthday did you?" Hide laughingly said, before then rubbed his knuckles over Ken's head, jumping away from Ken's swipes to stop him. In all honesty, Ken had even forgot himself what today was, only adding to his surprise at this turn of events.

Ken took a seat at the counter, to help himself gain his bearings, while Hide tried to impress Irimi with his tale of speeding through alleys to arrive before Ken himself did, when Yoshimura got his attention by tapping on his shoulder. When Ken turned to look at him, Yoshimura gave a gentle smile and said "I'm sorry Ken-kun, but I'm afraid with all this commotion, I will not be able to give you your lesson today. Why don't you come on Monday, first thing after school." Though Ken's head drooped a bit, having been excited to learn, he nodded his head, hoping it didn't show. Suddenly, something was pushed in front of him on the counter, he curiously picked it up, only to see the same vest that was the norm for the servers at Anteiku. Ken looked up curiously at Yoshimura who merely said "Well you can't be serving customers in your normal clothes can you?" When Ken didn't answer, his face stuck between pure shock and unadulterated glee, he just smiled, before saying "Happy birthday, Ken-kun." and turning Ken to face the party again, giving him a push when he stood still in shock.

Ken walked over to the three party goers, with all three congratulating him, Hide excitedly saying how Ken could now give him free food, while Irimi and Enji looked on with knowing smiles. As the four talked, Ken noticed in one of the booths by the wall sat the two mystery children, both looking like they would rather be anywhere other than in the cafe. He gave Irimi a questioning look, she took one glance at where Ken had been looking before saying "Ah, yes. The Manager thought it would be best for them to get out, but they don't do so well around people, so he thought this would be a good start for them. Just, try not to be insulted if they are a little...blunt."

* * *

The party continued without a hitch, presents being given, dress clothing from Irimi to be used at work and whenever he needed to "dress to impress" as she put it. Enji gave him new notebooks and a set of pencils, which Ken began testing almost immediately. And Hide gave him a new book, titled "Dear Kafka".

When Ken questioned his friend on the book he responded "Well, I saw you reading that meta morph or whatever it was called, and you seemed to really like it. Plus, the people at the bookstore seemed to think it was a really good one."

The party had finally begun to wind down, with everyone taking seats and eating cake. However, Ken's eyes kept straying to the duo on the other side of the cafe. Normally he would have done nothing, preferring the safety of his seat with Hide, but since he would be working here with all kinds of customers soon, he would have to talk to them to at least take their orders, he would have to get out of his comfort zone. With that in mind, as well as ignoring Hide's confused look, he grabbed two slices of cake, and began to walk over to them.

As he approached, both quickly noticed him, sending similar glares at him, which he simply powered through with a smile. When he got close he simply put the slices down in front of both of them and said "Here you go, thought you two would like some. There's way to much for just us to finish on our own." When they both just continued their glares, Ken continued "Come on, I already brought it over, don't want good food to go to waste right?"

His words finally got a reaction, though not one he had wanted, the boy's eyes widened, before they narrowed even further as he knocked the plate to the side, the cake landing with force on Ken's face. The boy rushed out of the booth and ran off, running into the back of the cafe. The girl yelled after him, "Ayato!" Before leveling a glare that could melt steel at Ken, standing up to follow after him, pushing Ken down to get there.

All Ken could do was wipe off the cake on his face, wondering what exactly he had done to set the young boy off. When he glanced over Irimi simply shrugged, while Yoshimura went to find where the two had run off to. After that, the rest of the party went off with little to no hitch, lasting well into the evening, by the time they had all went to go home the sun was setting.

Ken walked into his house, not hearing a sound as he entered, he breathed a small sigh of relief at that, he wouldn't be on the receiving end of another lecture from his aunt. He walked past the meager left overs that had been left out for him, placing them in the fridge rather than eating them. As he moved to hos room, laying down to sleep, he could only think that this was the best birthday he had had, in a long long time.

* * *

 **Anteiku Cafe, 20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, July 15th**

Ken looked over the meager amount of customers that had trickled in on the warm summer day. He was thankful for the cafe's AC as it made wearing the dress clothing that was his uniform bearable in the summer heat. He normally had the evening and closing shifts due to school, but this weekend he had switched with Enji, wanting to see how different the crowds were during the day.

He absentmindedly cleaned a cup, knowing he had a bit of time before he would need to make his rounds around the tables again. As he polished, he pondered back on the past few months, and how his new job had treated him. He may have not had much time to hang out with Hide at parks and such due to Ken taking as many hours as he could, always eager to lend a helping hand, but his friend had made sure to visit the cafe as often as he could. Early on in his employment Hide had even been his guinea pig for seeing if he had made the coffee correctly.

Ken had also grown closer to Enji and Irimi over his tenure at Anteiku, being able to bond with both of them whenever their shifts overlapped. Griping about difficult customers, laughing about misunderstandings, Ken had even shared with them the odd looks some regulars were giving him. He had a feeling that one of them, most likely Irimi, had talked to them in private because he had not received any more looks since telling them.

He had also seen more of the mystery girl, who he now knew was called Touka, as a few weeks after the incident at his party, he had seen her at the front office of his middle school, though because he graduated he did not know what became of her. He sometimes saw her walking in the morning wearing his middle school's uniform, so he assumed she enrolled and decided to stay with Yoshimura. In the same vein, he had not seen anything from the younger boy, not even him peeking around corners like he used to. Ken did not know if this was because of their incident and the boy was purposefully avoiding him, or if the boy had decided to return from wherever he was from unlike his sister.

Ken heard the curtain leading to the back getting pushed to side, as he turned he saw the manager, which is what Yoshimura insisted he call him while working, poking his head out. When he caught sight of Ken, he silently waved him over, Ken placing the cup and cloth down and following his boss into the back. As he was about to ask why he was pulled back he found himself speechless at the sight in front of him, Touka stood, a scowl firmly on her face, wearing the Anteiku workers outfit.

Unable to form any words, Ken mutely turned his head to the manager, who gave a small smile, walked over to Touka and placed one hand on her shoulder before saying "Touka-chan has decided to join us in Anteiku, Kaneki-kun. I have set her up to work as much as she can, though it won't be as often as you, so she can focus on school while working. Kaneki-kun, I'm putting you in charge of training our newest employee, since your hours will line up best. For now, have her focus on busing and cleaning the tables, and move her on when you think she is ready."

Before Ken could even begin to form words and question the managers logic, he left with a simple "Good luck". Leaving the two standing in the back, Touka glaring at Ken, Ken looking like a deer caught in head lights.

Ken was brought out of his shock by the bell on the front door, he waved for Touka to follow him as he returned from the counter. He saw that one of the customers had left the money for their drink on the table, and left. Deciding this would be a good first test he said "Alright, Touka-san, please go clean off that table."

She huffed, pushing past Ken to go to the table, she put the money and used cup in front of Ken, before barely doing one pass of the table with a cloth before returning behind the counter. She picked up a magazine and began reading it, glaring at Ken when she did before saying "Don't call me Touka."

Ken sighed, before placing the cup in a sink, placing the money in the register, and moving to the table to clean it properly. The rest of the day followed this pattern, with Touka either barely doing what she was told, or ignoring Ken entirely forcing him to do it on his own. When Touka finally clocked out for the day, leaving Ken to himself until Enji came for his shift, all he could do was hope the next few days would turn out better than this one.

* * *

 **Anteiku Cafe, 20th Ward Tokyo Japan August 4th**

'The days did not get better,' Ken thought to himself as he finished his end of closing, glancing over revealed Touka was still sitting at one of the tables, leaving her duty incomplete. As he went about finishing the jobs given to Touka he thought back to the past few days.

Touka had gone from barely performing what he told her to, to just flat out ignoring him, only talking to him when she would order a coffee for herself. She would also purposefully create messes and difficulties for him to deal with, just to spite him. Despite this however, he had not told anyone of what she was doing, instead simply pressing forward with a smile.

As he finished cleaning up, he heard a bang, turning around he saw Touka now standing, a frown on her face as she says "Why don't you tell them?" At his raised eyebrow she clarified "About me, about...this! Why don't you tell them that I don't do anything? That way I would be out of your hair, and you wouldn't have to worry about me." Ken simply shrugged and continued his work, which seemed to cause her to snap, as she stormed over to him, slamming her hand down on the table he was cleaning and yelling "Why do you just take it! Stand up for yourself, get angry, do something! Why do you just let me walk all over you?"

Ken looked down, avoiding her heated gaze, before quietly saying "It's better to be hurt, than to hurt others." Touka took a step back at this, not expecting a response like that, while Ken turned his gaze to her, one that held no rancor and instead was simply calm and with a gentle smile, not dissimilar to Yoshimura's, he continued "That's what my mother taught me. She always told me that people like me can just be happy with that, not hurting others. It may not be the best way to live, but it's how I live, and it's how she lived too. I may let people walk all over me, but it's just the price I pay to not spread around that pain. Besides," He closed his eyes here, and his smile became strained at the edges "I've gotten used to it over the years."

The rest of the closing was spent in silence, before Ken locked the door after Touka began making her way to the rooms upstairs. Ken took his time walking home, enjoying the late summer air and the stars above him.

* * *

 **Anteiku Cafe, 20th Ward Tokyo Japan August 5th**

Ken was filling a customers order in the later evening, a small espresso for a regular who was on his way to the graveyard shift, when he saw Touka enter from the corner of his eye. He was about to greet her when he heard someone say their goodbyes as they left, money lying on the table. Knowing it was ultimately useless he still said "Kirishima-san, can you go clean up that table please?"

He fully expected to have to clean up said table, and possibly even more if Touka was in a bad mood, but was startled when he heard her grumbling "Don't order me around" and the like, while she moved to the table, before starting to clear it off, wiping the table down until it shone and even washing the cup. When she saw his incredulous stare she only muttered to "Stop looking at me like that bastard. And stay out of my way, I clean up the tables, not your shitty ass."

Ken just smiled, not sure what had changed with her, but glad that it did.

* * *

 **Authors note:** Here we go! The next chapter of Anteiku! I hope you all enjoyed it, and feel free to leave your thoughts and such in a review below, feel free to tell me what I did right, what I did wrong, what you liked, etc. I also have a question for you all, how have you seen Tokyo Ghoul? Simply the anime? The manga? Or both perhaps? I would like to hear about how you have seen it since I plan on blending the two together, so feel free to tell me in a review, or in the poll I will be setting up on my profile. And now, for review responses and the sneak peek at the next chapter!

 **MaxBacon:** Thank you! I look forward to your enjoyment.

 **Weaver:** Oh yes, our dear Ken is in for quite the shock when he learns the truth about the people at Anteiku, and what exactly it really is.

 **UltimoFear:** I would love to hear some predictions of yours, perhaps some of them are right, and some may even give me some ideas. I look forward to you enjoying the chapters to come!

 _Preview:_

 _"Kaneki, go on a date with me."_

 _"I'm telling you, something about her doesn't feel right."_

 **Next time, "The First Date"**


	3. The First Date

**20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, October 22nd**

"Come on Kaneki, it's our last year before we have to worry about university, let loose! At least join a club or something, you can help me on the event planning council, we could always use more help." Hide said as the two made their way to school, walking in the crisp morning air. He was once again trying to convince Ken to join an club, trying to get his bookish friend further out of his shell. However, he was shot down at every turn, Kaneki being content to keep the status quo, keeping his job at Anteiku and school as the most important things.

Ken echoed these thoughts when he said "I already told you Hide, I'm already short on free time because of Anteiku, I barely have enough to do the work assigned, I don't think I could keep up haha."

Hide dramatically sighed, hanging his head before muttering "I get it, my dear old friend Kaneki-kun can't even take time to hang out with little ole me. Too busy serving coffee to strangers rather than helping me plan the coolest events our school had ever seen."

Ken simply laughed, deciding not to entertain his friends antics any further. As the two walked Ken swore he could smell coffee being brewed at Anteiku in preparation for the morning rush. He turned to Hide and questioned "By the way, why are we taking this path today?"

Hide flashed a grin at his friend and answered "Didn't you say you wanted to take a look at that Kami place? Besides, didn't you hear? Apparently the CCG stepped up in the eleventh ward, they sent out a warning that it would be pretty dangerous for a bit, so I thought it would be good to start taking this way. Plus, that way it isn't different from our way after school, since it's right by that cafe too."

While the two walked in silence, Ken was suddenly startled when he saw the stream of students in front of him. Deciding they must be from the nearby high school explained it, but he noticed Hide was no longer next to him. Turning around he saw Hide still as he stared at the stream of students. Ken walked over and followed his friends gaze, he saw, much to his shock, Touka dressed in her uniform and talking to a friend as the two walked to school. Touka's friend was excitedly with her, gesturing as she was telling a story, the girl was around the same height as Touka, though her hair was much more average, being a brownish-blonde color. He barely heard Hide mutter under his breath "She's cute," before snapping out of his stupor and continuing to school, with Ken beside him.

They eventually made their way to school, though they cut it close as the alternate route had taken longer than the two had thought and almost were tardy. Throughout the day, Ken focused on his work like he normally did, and when he had some free time he read from the book he had brought with him. But his mind would sometimes wander to what he saw that morning, and one thought kept flying through his head.

Which of the two did Hide mean?

* * *

 **20th Ward, Tokyo Japan, October 23rd**

Ken hummed a small tune as he turned the page in his book, enjoying the warmth the setting sun gave to the cafe. It was a slow evening, and as such Ken used the opportunity to catch up on reading he wanted to do, planning on getting through the next story in "Monochrome Rainbow" before his shift ended. Normally on slow days Hide would stop by and talk to Kaneki, even doing their homework together, however today he said he had to go and "Get ready for something".

This was a little odd to Ken, as far as he knew Hide waited until the last second for everything, but didn't press his friend, if Hide wanted to tell him, he would, if he didn't then he wouldn't, simple as that. Ken closed his eyes and just enjoyed the peace around him, the gentle warmth of the sun, the distinct scent of the coffee in the air, the gentle almost unnoticeable hum of conversation from the few customers, this is what Ken enjoyed most, just this small moment at Anteiku.

And just like that, the peace ended. The door to the cafe slammed open with a bang, the bell being drowned out by it, and made Ken snap his eyes open. He was barely able to catch a glimpse of Touka, an even more severe glare on her face than normal, before she walked through the curtain to the back, and with a "Gack!" Ken found himself being pulled along for the ride. As he was dragged by his collar through the back room, the duo passed by the manager, who stared at them for a moment as the passed, before muttering under his breath to not "Enjoy their youth too much" before walking to man the counter, chuckling as he did.

Ken's impromptu ride finally ended at the locker room where Touka threw him in before closing the door and standing with her arms crossed over her chest, and the same glare on her face. The look on her face caused Ken to swallow the spit in his mouth, forcing it past the knot in his throat as he tried to figure out what he could have possibly done to get Touka **THIS** mad, the last time he had seen her like this was when a teenager who had come in tried to cop a feel as she walked by. The boy left the cafe with a black eye, the reddest cheek print Ken had ever seen and a threat by Touka that she "Better not see his shitty face again, or she'll make the other side of his face match."

Touka huffed, before opening her mouth, Ken could already feel himself flinching as he was ready for what he was sure to be the most scathing tirade Touka had ever given, when he heard her say "Kaneki go on a date with me."

At first, Ken was sure that he had misheard her, and slowly opened his eyes to see the same face staring back at him as before, only this time he could barely see the dusting of pink over her cheeks. As his mind caught up with the events happening around him, Ken Kaneki, bibliophile and planned literature major of course only had the most eloquent response. "Huh?" he asked with a look that was bordering between shock and slight fear, shock that Touka had just asked him that, and fear that he had misheard her and only made the situation worse.

The pink on Touka's cheeks became more pronounced as she practically yelled "Did you break your damn ears Shitty-Kaneki? I said go on a date with me!" The silence that followed was deafening as Ken's brain finally began to accept the reality in front of him. As a response his cheeks also began to color, and his hand moved to scratch the back of his head.

"Kirishima-san...I can't say I'm not flattered, but I also can't say that I return your feelings." Seeing the look of shock that crossed her face made him feel like the biggest jerk in the world and he quickly began 'Damage Control' as he called it. "Plus I'm sure the manager wouldn't allow two employees to have that kind of relationship, it would be distracting and if it didn't work out then there would be some bad blood, and-"

He was cut off mid sentence by a loud yell from Touka as she said "There's no way I like your dumb ass!" Ken could only pause, as his brain tried to figure everything out, and Touka puffed in anger. She didn't like him, yet wanted to go on a date with him, which would mean she likes him but she says she doesn't. 'Would that make Touka a tsundere?' Touka then coughed to get his attention and continued in a much quieter voice "The only reason I'm telling you to go out on a date with me because that shitty friend of yours asked out Yoriko. I don't even know how he knows who she is, but I'm going to make sure he doesn't try anything."

Ken blinked in confusion, before asking "But...if you are just going to watch them and make sure Hide doesn't try anything, why do I need to be there?" Touka rolled her one visible eye in aggravation and continued directing her scowl at him.

"Because," she explained in a mocking voice you would normally only use with small children, "if they see me I need a reason to be there other than spying on them. Yoriko already knows that the only times I go out, let alone to the mall, are either when I'm with her or absolutly need to. So that's why you're coming with me Shitty-Kaneki, so that if we get spotted, then I can just say you asked me out. And if she asks why we didn't go out again I can just come up with something like it's against store policy or that you acted like a dumb ass. Something like that."

Ken kicked his feet around, pushing imaginary dust around the floor before saying "I don't know Kirishima-san, isn't that, you know, wrong? Shouldn't you trust your friend and her decisions?"

Touka scoffed before saying "I do trust Yoriko, it's that shitty friend of yours that I don't trust. I've heard him talking, thinks he's such a ladies man. So, if he tries anything against Yoriko, I have to be there to protect her." Seeing how he was still hesitant she sighed before saying "Listen, you've been re-reading that same book for months now right? If you do this then I'll buy you a book from that author you like. What's his name Takatsu Sim?"

Suddenly Ken's head snapped up and he said "The Black Goats Egg? Takatsuki Sen's newest novel!" Before he caught himself, and calmly finished "Um, I mean yes, that seems like a fair trade."

Touka nodded before turning around to walk out and calling out over her shoulder "Then we'll meet here before going to the mall on Saturday. And by the way, it's your treat." And slammed the door shut before he could respond.

* * *

 **20th Ward, Narima Mall, Tokyo Japan, October 26th**

Ken shuffled nervously, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible. Not an easy task when you and your 'date' were standing at a plastic sunglasses display for the last ten minutes waiting for another couple to walk out of a clothing store. Ken turned to ask Touka a question and had to hold himself back from laughing and drawing more attention than they already had, she had obviously been 'studying' the past couple of days on how to best spy, with her only reference being old spy movies. She was standing, back pressed against the stand, glancing around the corner of it to look at the store, on her face had to be the most gaudy pair of glasses he had seen, bright pink with jewels encrusted onto them.

As he was holding in his laughter, he had to admit, Touka did seem a bit cute in her over protectiveness. Like an older sister who simultaneously wants to protect the younger sibling and not wanting said sibling to grow up in the first place. When he finally gained enough control of himself to look back all he saw was the back of Touka briskly walking off, following Hide and the girl who they had seen walking with Touka on their way to school, who he figured out was called Yoriko. He saw the stand owner out of the corner of his eyes, and he could have sworn he saw a dark aura around them. With a sigh he pulled out his wallet, rationalizing it by knowing it was only a small price, nothing too large.

The rest of the morning leading to noon passed much like this, the two of them hiding out in various stores and stands, watching over Hide and Yoriko. The two were almost caught at one point when Yoriko had lost her bag and ran back to find it. Luckily Touka was quick enough to pull the both of them into another store, making sure their backs were to Yoriko. They stayed in that store for a good ten minutes, due to Touka not wanting to seem suspicious. By the time they left Touka was practically sprinting through the mall, Ken followed as well as he could, but had to wonder how Touka seemed to know where Yoriko was, almost as if she could sniff her out like a bloodhound.

Ken stopped suddenly when he heard a small voice cry out "Momma!" he looked around until he spotted a small girl, no older than five, standing in the crowd with watery eyes. She was clutching a stuffed rabbit in one hand while the other was up by her mouth, seeming to give her some kind of comfort. Ken glanced around for a moment, not seeing anyone who looked like they were searching for the girl, another cry of "Momma!" spurred him into action.

He walked over to the girl and when he got close crouched down to her level, when she caught sight of him she looked as if she would bolt. Ken gave as reassuring a smile as he could and said "Hey. Hey it's alright, I'm here to help alright?" When the girl seemed less inclined to run he gave a soft sigh and said "Alright, you lost your momma right? Where was the last place you remember seeing her?"

The girl sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, attempting to speak before a small sob racked her body. Taking a deep breath she tried again, and spoke in a trembling voice "We, we were in the toy store, and I had my bun-bunny. And then a boy to-took him! And I chase-ed him, and then I got bunny, but then mommy wasn't there and I looked for her but she wasn't there and I got scared and-"

Before she continued to ramble on even more Ken held up his hand and gave the same smile as before. He said in a gentle voice "I bet your mom is still at the toy store worried sick about you. What's say you and me go walk there alright?" He held out his hand to the little girl who after a moment took it, and he led her through the crowd to the toy store.

Once they arrived Ken easily spotted the mother, a distressed woman frantically shouting "Minako!" which he assumed was the little girls name. When the girl heard and saw her mother she sprinted to her, tears beginning to stream down her face, with the same result coming from the mother. As the two reunited Ken had a small smile on his face, happy to have helped out, however this smile slowly turned melancholic as he watched the mother fuss over the little girl, making sure she was fine and everything. He quickly turned away, deciding he would find Touka. As he walked through the crowd that was forming around the reunited family, try as he might, he was unable to stop his own thoughts from drifting to memories of his own mother, how she would dote over him when he stayed home sick, all of the little things she would do even during the day to day.

He wiped at the corners of his eyes just as he saw Touka blazing toward him, a harsh glare on her face. When she reached him the glare only intensified as she said "Where the hell did you go Shitty-Kaneki! Because of you I had to stop following Yoriko! Now the two of them could be anywhere!"

Ken was stunned for a second, before looking down at his feet and saying "I'm sorry Kirishima-san I was...just distracted by something." He plastered a smile on his face before saying "Maybe we should try to go to the food court, we can grab a bite to eat, and it's about lunch time, and knowing Hide and his appetite, he'll make his way there soon, if he isn't there already." Seeing she still seemed unconvinced, and somehow seemed even more incensed than she was before he mentioned food he added "My treat?"

She finally let up the glare and said "Fine Shitty-Kaneki. But you better hope they are there soon!" She was about to move on when she finally noticed the glassy eyes of Ken and asked "Hey, you alright Shitty-Kaneki?"

Ken just kept the smile in place as he began to walk to the food court, Touka falling in step next to him. He brought up his hand and cupped and scratched his chin before saying "Nothing's wrong, Kirishima-san."

* * *

Ken and Touka stood in the middle of the bustling food court, glancing from shop to shop, both attempting to figure out what they should have. Seeing the amount of people walking around, and the amount of tables they could sit at growing smaller by the minute, Ken pulled out his wallet and grabbed a stack of bills before turning to Touka. He handed the bills to her and said "Here, you go where you want and just grab me something too, I'll find us a table so we won't have to sit on the ground." He then turned and began walking around, eagerly looking for a table that wasn't taken and had a good view of the rest of the food court so Touka could find Hide and Yoriko.

Suddenly he stumbled forward, when he turned it was a girl, a few years or so older than him, she looked like she had tears running down her face and was breathing heavy. After he had turned to face her she grabbed two handfuls of his shirt and spoke in a rapid almost hysterical voice "Ohmygoshyouhavetocomewithmetheirgoingtodosomethingbadtoherwehavetohurrypleaseplease!" At his confused face she slowed down a bit repeating "You have to come with me please! Their going to do something bad, th-they might kill her!" Ken was about to agree when he thought back to how Touka reacted to his going off on his own a few minutes ago, at the same time he couldn't let something happen if he could stop it. So, after another emphatic "Please!" he gave a short nod.

A relieved smile came over the girls face before she took off like a shot, not giving Ken a chance to keep up. He ran after her, though he was only able to barely keep her in his sights as she weaved through the crowds. He thought he had lost her when she suddenly turned a corner, only to barely see an emergency exit door close, following he was barely able to see her hair in the wind as she turned another corner to reach an area where shipping comes into the mall.

He slowed to a walk as he reached the shipping area, before he noticed he was at the mouth of a dark alley, walking down it he got sight of the girl and two burly men. He wasn't able to make out much in the darkness of the alley, the only light streaming in was from behind Kaneki and since it was noon the sun was up high and blocked off by an overhang. From what he could make out was the sinister grins on the men's faces, looking almost like the cat that caught the canary, the girl meanwhile had an almost too large smile, one that looked part forced and partly born from desperation.

As he stood stunned he heard the girls voice, this time speaking to one of the men as she spoke in the same hysterical voice that she had when she bumped into him, saying to the men "See! See! I brought a good one, I brought a good one for you right? I did good right? Didn't I do good, huh huh?"

The man she was speaking to scoffed at her, before muttering an almost unheard "We'll see." before grabbing her by the hair and tossing her further into the alley behind them. Slowly the two men advanced toward Ken, looking almost like predators as they slinked toward him, Ken immediately began to regret not calling the police when he had the chance, too caught up in the girls flurry to do anything but follow. Frozen with fear he simply stood still while the two approached him, speaking to each other and saying "Hm, this one doesn't have much meat on him at all huh? Damn bitch, couldn't she choose a fat ass or something?"

The other chuckled before replying "He may not have a lot of meat on him, but he probably won't put up much of a fight either. Hell, we won't even have to use 'That' on him." Ken was cursing himself in his mind, these guys were probably Yakuza or some kind of thugs, going to rob him or do who knows what. They might even take his organs like his kidney and leave him in a bathtub of ice, he began to hyperventilate, his eyes widening. He finally gained control of his body again, and with a hesitant step backwards was ready to bolt down the alley.

However, Ken must have misjudged how far away they were in the dark, or how fast they were approaching since one of them was suddenly in front of him, before Ken could even let out a scream the man reared his hand back and brought it down in a cruel backhand, knocking Ken to the ground. Groaning in pain Ken could barely force his eyes open before he felt a foot cruelly crash into his stomach knocking the wind and spit from him, three follow up kicks kept him from getting his breath back, leaving him dry heaving to get breath back.

Just as his throat began to cooperate and he was able to get a single breath of the sweet air of life he felt it closed again as the second man grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air. Ken began to thrash around his hands weakly coming up and scraping at the mans own, his feet kicking trying to find some purchase to relieve the pressure on his throat. As his eyes began to water, his body trying everything it could to free itself, his captor seemed to have enough of his efforts and in one move slammed him into the wall, his head reeling from the blow. His vision flashed white and when it did return his was blurry with black spots moving around. He heard a voice as if through water, saying "St...aying...yo...ood" before a deep almost demonic chuckle and he was slammed into the wall again.

Ken could feel himself losing his grasp on consciousness, every blink his eyes seemed to stay closed longer and longer, each time taking more and more effort to force them open, almost to the point of agony. He heard another voice, however at this point he could barely hear it and couldn't even make out anything that was said. He was suddenly dropped to the ground, feeling the rocks on the ground digging into his side, though he could barely feel it beyond a slight pressure. As his eyes began to drift shut Ken knew that he had lost his grasp on his consciousness, his eyes too heavy to stay open any longer. The last vision he had was a figure silhouetted against the light streaming into the alley, a single wing coming from the figures shoulder, 'Beautiful' was the last thought he had as his eyes rested and he drifted off to oblivion.

* * *

As he returned to consciousness, Ken could feel a pounding in his head, feeling as if there was someone inside his head playing on drums like no tomorrow. In the back of his mind, Ken wondered if this is what the book characters felt like when they were hungover. After a few moments of simply enduring the pounding, Ken slowly opened his eyes, groaning and quickly shut them when the light from above flashed. He slowly opened them again, this time weakly bringing up a hand to shield his eyes from what he assumed was the sun, and waited for his vision to clear up.

When he could finally see again, Ken was surprised by what he saw, he was lying on his back so as he looked up he could see a bit of the sky before it lead into some metal ceiling providing some shade. Closer to him however was the truly surprising thing, from where he was laying he could see the torso and head of a woman, she had her hair swept to cover one half of her face, when he looked to the uncovered half he finally realized who he was looking at, and subsequently who's lap he was laying on.

Realizing the position he was in a small blush crept up his face and he tried to sit up, due to equal parts embarrassment and fear at what Touka would do to him, when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder stop him, and slowly push him back down. Looking up in surprise he saw a strict looking Touka say "Stay down, Shitty-Kaneki, you probably have a concussion or something, so just lay down for a bit."

Following her advice, Ken stayed still, using one hand to feel around his torso, flinching when he reached tender parts from what he had gone through, but luckily was left without anything major, hopefully at least. Glancing up he asked in a shaken voice "Hey, Kirishima-san, where are Hide and Yoriko? Did you give up on them?"

Touka scoffed loudly, almost as if she didn't expect the question, and said "Yea right, if I didn't know where they were, you would be waking up with some rocks as your pillows. I saw them in the food court before I went to look for your shitty ass. You're lucky some guys saw where you ran off to."

Ken chuckled for a moment before wincing as his ribs protested the action, and he responded "Haha, yeah, sorry about that." Gritting his teeth Ken slowly began to sit up, thankful of Touka placing her hand on his back to help. Once he was sitting up with his back against the wall next to Touka, he noticed she had taken out a small hand mirror and checked his reflection. Cringing at the sight that stared back at him, Ken reached one hand up and began to tenderly touch the flesh of his cheek, seeing that a bruise in the shape of fingers had already started to form.

As Ken was studying the new bruises he had gotten, he heard voices and steps coming closer, he was unsure exactly who it was until he heard a feminine voice call out "Touka-chan? Where are you?" As he glanced over to the entrance he saw the girl who had been walking with Touka a few days ago and Hide looking around, when they saw him and Touka sitting next to each other they gasped and rushed over. Kneeling next to him the girl, that Kaneki could now recognize as Yoriko, looked over his wounds for a moment before turning to Touka and asking "Touka-chan when you said to come here, I thought it was for something else! What happened?"

Ken who had been being looked over by Hide, glanced over for a second, he closed in his eyes in thought, trying to remember what had happened. "Uh, I was, I was here because, a girl...a girl was..." Try as he might though, all he could dredge up were disconnected images, a girl in an alley, two men grinning, his face in the ground, an angel, no matter what he couldn't remember exactly what happened.

"Two creeps were perving on some chick." Touka spoke up, causing everyone to look at her. She shrugged and said "I saw her run out of the alley when I followed Kaneki, the idiot must have charged right in because they were beating on him pretty good. When I got there they must have decided it wasn't any use since she was gone so they left. Then I texted you two and here we are."

Yoriko gave a small smile and said "Good job Kaneki-san! Shame on them for trying to do such a thing to a girl and beating you. At least she got away safely." While Yoriko gave her praise, Ken managed a glance over to Touka and tried to convey his thanks. Touka either didn't notice him or didn't acknowledge it, instead taking her mirror back from Ken.

What none of the three noticed was Hide's glance toward Touka, instead of a glance of gratitude like one would expect he instead had his eyes slightly narrowed, before darting all over her form, as if he was studying her. His eyes eventually focused on two places in particular, on the pair of shorts she wore, he saw a small amount of red liquid staining the fabric, and up near her shoulder her shirt was slightly ripped. Hide quickly returned to normal and said "Hey Kankei, come on, I'll pay for a cab to your aunts, you should rest for a while." Ken gives a grateful nod before allowing Hide to help him up, giving a slight cough and spitting out some blood that Ken assured the group was just from biting his tongue as he was slapped, the group split up, Touka and Yoriko walking to their respective homes, and Hide and Ken going to his aunt's home.

After the group had dispersed, a woman walked over to the alley. At a glance, one would call this woman pretty and a closer inspection would cause them to change that to beautiful. The woman was only wearing a simple white and purple dress, but that seemed to only draw more attention to her more eye catching areas due to its simplicity, one of which was her long purple hair that blew in the slight wind. As she reached the small puddle of blood that Ken had spit out, the woman kneeled down to the balls of her feet, and dipped a single finger into the small puddle of blood. The woman quickly brought the blood stained digit to her mouth, before sighing in satisfaction, her eyes drifting closed as she savored the flavor. If one had been standing in front of her, they would have seen her eyes had become black with red iris' when she opened them, giving a grin that could only be described as feral she quickly reverted to normal before walking off, deciding to grab a quick bite as she hummed a tune.

* * *

 **20th Ward, Tokyo Japan**

Ken sighed as he relaxed into the cushion of the seat, resting his head as he decided to keep himself from having motion sickness by keeping his eyes closed. This prevented him from seeing the pensive look on Hide's face, as he thought over and over about everything that he had seen in that alley. Without looking at him he asks "Hey Kaneki, who was that girl, Touka was her name right?"

Ken kept his eyes closed while he said "Yeah, she works with me at Anteiku, she is friends with Yoriko-san and wanted to keep an eye on her for her first date." Ken sat back and waited for the usual teasing from Hide, likely something along the lines of his 'date' with Touka being a 'stakeout-makeout'.

Instead Hide kept his serious tone and asked "How long have you known her?" Causing Ken to crack open his eyes and give a glance at his friend.

Feeling off put by how Hide was acting he answered slowly, "About...maybe two years?" Hide then began to barrage him with questions, what kind of person was she? Did she act strangely at all? Not even giving Ken a chance to answer them, he finally had enough and asked "What's going on Hide? Why are you asking so much about Kirishima-san?"

Hide slowly exhaled through his nose before leaning back, craning his head to stare at the ceiling of the cab. Thinking over his words he responded with "She...she just...seems off, you know? Something about her just feels wrong, you know?"

Ken just closed his eyes again, returning to his previous task of resting, wondering if he had anything to read for the bed rest Hide was sure to enforce upon him. He just muttered "You're just imagining things Hide."

Hide closed his eyes as well and muttered back "I don't know, she feels off. Just, be careful around her, alright Ken?" He didn't receive an answer as Ken slipped into a deep sleep, evidenced by the snore a moment later. While his friend slept, Hide kept replaying the scene in his head, he had begun to close in on three things, how would Touka know about the men perving on the girl if she had only arrived after the girl had run off, and if the men were such horndogs, why didn't they take her as their next target? Next, was the rip on her shoulder, if her and Ken had spent the day at the mall, how did such a tear occur, and if it was normal, why not buy another shirt to wear instead? But it was the final matter that stuck to him the most, and that was the blood on her shorts, he was sure it was blood since they hadn't said they had eaten yet, and it didn't look like it dribbled from Ken's mouth when she got to him. Instead this blood looked like it was sprayed or splattered on her, and he didn't take Ken as someone who would cough on others.

All these questions swirled around Hide's mind as the taxi maneuvered through the evening traffic.

* * *

 **20th Ward, Anteiku Cafe, Tokyo Japan**

Touka walked into the cafe, seeing the manager at the counter she gave him a nod before moving to the back rooms. Noticing he had followed her she stopped past the curtain and turned to look at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. The manager wasted no time and asked "Touka-chan, you reek of blood, and it's not just human. What happened?"

Touka blew some air out while she readjusted her hair, of course the manager would be able to tell that she killed, and even be able to tell that it wasn't just a human. Thinking quickly she responded "I took out some trash, that's all. Those dumbasses were outside their territory, so I put them in their place. Did Yomo come by? He has a kill of mine that I'm going to take a bit of."

The manager simply nodded and Touka went to the pantry and opened the door, preparing to use the basement exit when the Manager called out "Touka-chan, thank you for taking care of Ken-kun."

As she disappeared through the hole she called out "Che, I was just keeping the heat off myself."

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Alright! Here we go with the next chapter, and you all thought we would see our favorite purple haired glutton this chapter, well, we did, just not how you would expect! Sorry for taking a bit longer for this chapter than normal, I was planning on re-reading the manga to get a feel for how the characters act and such, intending to only read a few chapters...and I ended up reading through the Aogiri Arc...haha sorry. But, next chapter I promise that we will be reaching the point we all know and love...or do I? Now then, this chapters question will be done just through reviews since I still want to hear what version of Tokyo Ghoul you've seen, so let's get to it! Now then, keeping in mind the most recent chapters of :Re we have a lot of questions, one of the biggest in my opinion is this: What are Ghouls? So far we have heard a lot of theories, though the main ones in the universe itself is that Ghouls are simply predators of Humanity, or at most they are an off shoot branch like the Neandrathal that is a genetic 'dead end' so to speak due to only having a single prey. So, what do you think Ghouls are? Do you agree with an existing theory? Do you have one of your own? I would be glad to hear them.

Now without further ado, review responses!

 **MaxBacon:** Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear you like the style and the character interactions, as I feel they are one of my weaker points due to my fear that I am having characters acting unrealistically.

 **Madeleinemagical83:** Yep, I liked writing this fuzy and heartwarming stuff, though maybe that's because I know I will soon be smashing it to bits haha. And of course, in the words of our dear Kaneki himself, any story with him in it would surely be...a tragedy. And I can understand your gripes, I was eagerly expecting an explanation for why Kaneki joined Aogiri, especially since they seemed to put large emphasis on Eto having an interest in Kaneki, yet nothing came of it. And as for the ending, I won't deny that it did have me a little teary, especially with the final walk, but since it is seen as it's own alternate universe, at least from what I've heard, it's one that might end with the death of our two favorite friends unless we see an :Re anime as well.

As for Eto, I plan on having her to be heavily involved in the story, as I feel she is a cornerstone of Tokyo Ghoul. Arguably nothing would have happened without her, we don't know who if anyone had the Clowns take out Rize but if Eto was out of the picture, Aogiri wouldn't be a thing and Kaneki wouldn't be kidnapped, the story would have taken a completly different direction! Therefore if Kaneki is the Protagonist in this story, I would consider Eto to be the Deuteragonist.

 **Nissangtrlover2569:** I'm glad you are enjoying it! And should our dear Kaneki suffer the same fate, he will be in for one hell of a shock when he learns about the workers of Anteiku. And I'm similar to how you went, except I only started the manga after watching the first season, since I was dying to know what happened, and I do agree the anime cut a lot, but at the same time they had to, since they only had 12 episode seasons, hopefully the ratings are good enough for the possible :Re anime to get a full 24 episode season to go off.

 **Aki:** Agreed, I will definitely be watching the Anime extensively to watch the fight scenes, especially for fights between CCG and Ghouls, to see how the two fight each other and what tactics they use.

 **Oriko:** I'm glad that you are enjoying it! And I don't think Ken will be staying normal, though that is an interesting idea...hmm.

 **CG Nighcore S4 NA:** Thank you very much! And I will work to fix that as best as I can/

 _Preview:_

 _"Nice to meet you Kaneki-kun! I'm Takatsuki Sen."_

 _"Mmm, you taste so good, Ka-Ne-Ki-kun."_

 **Next time, "A Tragedy"**


	4. A Tragedy

**20th Ward, Anteiku Cafe, Tokyo Japan, September 15th**

"Yo! Kaneki!" was the sound that caused many in the small cafe to glance over, with the regulars seeing the blond haired boy and turning away, some with small smiles and chuckling at the antics of the two friends, some licking their lips before returning to their coffee. Kaneki looked up from cleaning the cup in his hands to flash a smile at his friend and gestured to the seat in front of him. Keeping the smile on his face Hide made his way over, glancing at Touka from the corner of his eye, and taking the seat. "So," he started while Kaneki began making Hide's usual cappuccino, "what's this about a girl that caught your eye? My poor innocent Kaneki is going to move on from me." Hide dramatically flopped his face onto the counter while Kaneki, nonplussed by his friends antics, placed the cup in front of him and waited for more questions.

After a moment Hide peeked through his hair to see if his act had an effect, and after seeing Kaneki's grinning face he sat up and took a sip. "Man, you're no fun anymore Kaneki. I remember back when you would be freaking out if I did that, though I can't remember if you would be freaking out over what I did, or bringing up your crush." The two chuckled for a moment, before Hide continued "So, who is this girl? You said you see her here right? Is she a regular or something?"

Ken shook his head, "No, she only started coming to the cafe in the last couple of months. But I'm serious Hide, she is gorgeous, and sometimes when I look over at her table...she smiles at me." Hide made a gagging motion at the love struck words and expression on Ken's face, causing his friend to blush fiercely and smacking Hide with the cloth he had been cleaning with.

"Well, you better hurry up and ask her out then, before someone else beats you to the punch." As soon as Hide finished his sentence, the bell on the door rung, and in walked a gorgeous woman, long purple hair cascading down her back, drawing attention to her simple white and black dress that accentuated her figure just so. With a small smile on her face, she took a seat at a table and opened a book. Hide tore his eyes away and said "Well, here's your chance, go take her order, talk with her. I'll be here to help you comfort your broken heart when she turns you down!"

Ken shot a glare at Hide who simply responded with a cheeky smile, before smoothing out his uniform, grabbing a pen and paper and moving to the woman's table. Seeing him coming she gave a kind smile before placing her book on the table, which Ken bumped into in his hurry to reach her. Blushing in embarrassment from his actions Ken quickly sputtered out "I-I'm so sorry Miss. Le-Let me get that for you." As he kneeled down to grab the book he let out a slight gasp as he looked at the cover of the book with words in bold practically screaming at him 'The Black Goat's Egg by Takatsuki Sen'.

As he stood up with the book in his hands the woman placed her hands over her mouth and muttered in a small voice "Oh my, I know it's not really a proper book to be reading in public, I just thought..." she then dropped both her hands and head and continued "I understand if you want me to put it away."

Seeing the way she was acting Ken quickly placed the book on her table before waving his arms saying "No! No there's no problem at all! In fact, I...also read Takatsuki Sen's books, 'The Black Goat's Egg' is one of my personal favorites actually."

The woman looked up, pushing her bangs to the side and exposing her watery eyes "R-Really?You aren't saying that to make me feel better Mr...?"

Giving her a kind smile he finished for her "Ken. My name is Kaneki Ken. And not at all! I've followed Takatsuki-san since even his short stories. Um, may I have your name as well?"

The woman returned Ken's smile, before extending her hand and saying "Rize, Kamishiro Rize. And I haven't met another fan of Takatsuki-san as involved as you before, it's refreshing." She then looked around and mentioned "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was keeping you, I'm sure you have other customers to tend to."

Ken glanced around and saw that, yes a few people were nearing the end of their drinks, and he should be getting to them to see if they wanted a refill or a check. But at the same time, this was his first chance to talk to this girl, Rize... well, at least he had gotten her name. He scratched the back of his head, chuckling a bit before he said "Um, yeah looks like it. I'll take your order and then get out of your hair, alright?"

"Hm, I think I will just have a cup of your best roast, black please." As Ken wrote down her order she suddenly leaned forward, grabbing the pen and pad out of his hands before writing something of her own and handing it back, saying "And, if you'd like, we can meet up at this address tomorrow, and go to a bookstore nearby, I heard Takatsuki Sen is doing a signing there.

Try as he might Ken couldn't keep the blush off his face as he stuttered out "U-Uh yeah th-that sounds great! B-Bye for now!" And he rushed off to fill the order, his heart practically pounding out of his chest. As he rushed back he couldn't see the slightly smug glance Rize shot to Touka, who in turn shrugged her shoulders before returning to her customers.

* * *

Ken was practically a beacon of light as he hung up his uniform in his locker, slipping on his regular clothes as he chatted with Irimi. "It was amazing!" He said with a bright smile on his face, "I'm going to go out with Rize-san and meet Takatsuki Sen all in the same day! It's like a dream come true!"

Irimi glanced at him out of the corner of her eye while she put on her tie, "Are you sure about this Kaneki-kun? I know you have had this crush on her for a couple weeks now, but you've only talked to her once so far, how do you know what kind of person she is? In fact, I think I heard some of the customers saying that they saw her with some gang type guys, what if she's the head of a gang! Or worse, what if she's part of the Yakuza!"

Ken shook his head, chuckling a bit and said "I'm sure if she was part of the Yakuza then she would have better things to do than come to a cafe and read a book. Besides, I want to get to know the real her, not just rumors that people say about her. If she does turn out to be like that, then I promise I'll end it there."

Koma walked over with a wide smile and slapped Ken on the back before saying "Hey Ken-kun, why don't you and I take a 'Men's Day' tomorrow, you can take me to that restaurant that you and your friend enjoy and I can try some of that Hamburg Steak you speak so highly of. Besides, we don't want to worry the ladies do we?" Here he winked at Touka and Irimi and continued "I say let Irimi play her little detective and find out more about this girl, if nothing else than to ease her heart yea?"

Ken gave a small smile as he closed his locker, "I'll be fine Koma-san, besides, I can take you on Sunday, I think they have a special then anyways. Besides, it's just one date, nothing big is going to happen." As he walked out the door he waved and said "Bye! See you all in a couple of days!"

As the door closed Irimi dropped to her knees, tears silently running down her face, she knew that once Ken went on the date, the odds of him returning were slim to none. She doubted Rize was the type to lead someone on when they were just her food, and even if Koma and herself tried to fight her and save Ken they would still lose. If by some miracle they did win it would still end with Ken's death, as they had no idea how he would react to the fact that the people who had been closest to him for most of his life were actually man eating monsters.

A few moments passed and Koma turned and slammed his fist into the nearby locker, gritting his teeth at his inability to prevent what was going to happen. As the two grieved, Touka finished her own changing and was about to leave, before she commented "You know, it was going to happen anyway. What with that binge eater around, either she would have gotten him eventually or one of the regulars would have him for a snack. Face it, we are starting to run out of meat, and I know more than a few of them enjoy the 'Thrill of the hunt', if he hung around here he'd make an easy target when starvation sets in, and you all wouldn't kick him out, it was inevitable."

Without another word Touka walked out, leaving the two to stew in their own emotions. The situation was a lose-lose for Ken, and nothing they could do would change that.

* * *

 **20th Ward, Hiwa no Hana Resturant, Tokyo Japan, September 16th**

'I can't believe this is happening!'

This was quite a common thought going through Ken's head today, even resorting to pinching himself several times since meeting up with Rize to make sure this wasn't just a dream. Ken absentmindedly twirled his fork, gathering some pasta while he talked with Rize.

"So Kaneki-kun, what would be your number one recommendation of Takatsuki Sen's books?" Rize asked, giving a small smile as Ken hummed in thought, taking a bite of pasta as he organized his thoughts.

Placing his fork back onto his plate Ken said "Hm, I would probably have to say his premier book, 'Dear Kafka', when I first got it I couldn't put it down for a week!"

Rize chuckled, raising one hand to cover her mouth, before saying "I see, I remember that part with the letter really tricking me! I would have to say the 'Black Goat's Egg' has to take the cake for me, it's truly amazing. Though to be fair, I say that about most of Takatsuki-san's books, his way of writing is simply superb. Plus it's refreshing to see some darker themes in such masterpieces, wouldn't you say Kaneki-kun?"

As she asked her question, Rize leaned forward, obviously eager to hear his agreement. However, in doing so she gave Ken a straight view at her cleavage, and like the hormonal filled teenager he is Ken couldn't help but stare. After a few moments of silence, Ken returned to himself, feeling the blush rush up his face Ken hastily turned his eyes to the side, stuttering out a "Y-Yeah, d-definitely." Seeking to draw attention away from his staring Ken's eyes darted all over, trying to find something, before landing on Rize's plate. "Um, Rize-san, are you feeling alright? You haven't really touched your food."

Rize glanced down at her plate surprisidly, before meekly glancing to the side, a hand hiding her frown from view. "Oh, well you see I'm on a diet right now...and I already had a big breakfast. Excuse me."

Without a chance to respond Rize had stood up and made her way to the bathroom, leaving Ken there, stumped and hoping he didn't blow his chances with Rize because of a stupid question. As her words caught up to him however, he frowned a bit, 'She's already pretty thin though, why does she need to diet?' Ultimately he just shrugged, 'Girls.' he rationalized in his head. Deciding he would buy her something good from the bookstore to make it up to her.

* * *

As Ken and Rize walked into the bookstore, he couldn't help but feel confused by the lack of people in the store. While it wasn't a particularly large store he expected more people to be around for a signing by Takatsuki Sen. Takatsuki especially had fans of multiple age groups, whether it was a younger audience drawn by 'Monochrome Rainbow' or an older one enticed with books such as 'Dear Kafka' and 'The Black Goats Egg'. Another problem was that there was no signs, banners, or anything of the sort that would lead them to where the signing was. "Um, Rize-san," Ken started, looking everywhere he could for some clue "Are you sure the signing was today?"

Placing her hand on her cheek Rize responded "I'm pretty sure the flyer I was said it was today. Hm." Perking up she quickly said "I know! You stay here Kaneki-kun, I'll go find a manager, they should be able to tell us." And without another word she darted off, making her way deeper into the store.

Ken could only sigh, and decide to look through the books that were near the front of the store, glancing through to see if any new releases might interest him. Seeing that the majority of them were works by Takatsuki Sen caused a small smile to form on his face, 'Maybe Takatsuki-san is here after all.'

"Excuse me?" Ken started, having been lost in thought staring at the books, he didn't notice the person walking up to him. Turning he found himself face to face with a young woman, causing a blush to creep it's way on Ken's face both at having been caught unaware and at the woman's appearance. Despite her slightly unkempt appearance one would be hard pressed to call her anything but attractive, her green hair pulled into a messy bun and her bangs framing her face. Her equally green eyes were half lidded behind a pair of glasses, and a small, almost teasing, smile was on her face as she waited, hands clasped in front of her face. "If it's not too much of a bother, could I ask for your help with something?"

Scratching the back of his head Ken chuckled awkwardly as he said "Uh, yea sure, what do you need help with?" Cursing himself for staring at the young woman, while also thanking whatever God was looking out for him today that Rize didn't see him staring at this woman.

The girl simply kept the same smile on her face, either not noticing Ken's staring, or not caring, as she said "Well you see, I was here for a bit yesterday, but when I woke up this morning," she scratched her cheek here while glancing to the side "I noticed that my wallet was missing. So I think I forgot it here, would you mind looking for it with me?"

Deciding to just nod, he began to look around the entrance area, trying to find said missing wallet. As he looked he saw the woman step next to him, looking in the same area. "So," she began with a sideways glance, "do you normally have deep thoughts while looking at the titles of books?" Giggling as she finished her question and Ken's face once again became engulfed by a blush.

"Well, I came here with my date, we are both big fans of the author Takatsuki Sen, and heard he was doing a signing here today. But, well...it looks like he's not here, so she went off to find the manager to see what's going on." Deciding that they had looked in one section of the store long enough, the two moved over to what looked like a side room with a table at one end and began looking for the wallet in the slightly bare room.

"Oh? The both of you like Takatsuki-sans books huh? I'm surprised, I read a bit of one once, but it was so scary I haven't touched it since!" Giggling a bit she continued "I'm surprised that a nice looking boy like you is interested in such scary books. What do you like about them?"

Ken paused for a moment, humming in thought, before saying "Well, I've liked to read since I was little, so I've read all kinds of books. But for some reason, I've always felt drawn to tragedies, so maybe that's why I enjoy Takatsuki-sans books. I feel like, even in his short stories, you can feel a bit of darkness to them that you can't shake off. Maybe that's Takatsuki-san putting a bit of himself in his writing."

Though the woman's face was hidden to Ken, as she had been searching the ground with her hair falling around her face, if he had been able to see it, he would have seen a slight smile on the girls face, before quickly going away as she called out "Found it!" Jumping up she turned to Ken with a small but clearly well made wallet in her hands. "Thank you for your help..." She trailed off as she looked expectantly at Ken and began to dig around in her wallet, clearly looking for something.

"Oh, I'm Ken," with a small smile Ken extended his hand toward the woman and introduced himself "Kaneki Ken. And it was really no problem Miss...?" This time it was Ken awaiting a response from the woman, glad that he could help her find her wallet.

However, instead of responding to him, or even taking his hand, the woman instead pulled a pen out of her walled with a cry of "Aha!" Then faster than he could react, the woman pulled one of the books off the nearby shelf, a copy of Takatsuki Sen's 'The Black Goats Egg' . She opened the cover and began to write on the first page, finishing with a flourish she placed the book in Ken's still outstretched hand, flashed her wallet to him, showing her I.D. and said "Nice to meet you Kaneki Ken, my name is Takatsuki Sen." Before taking off like a shot, leaving a stunned young man in her wake.

Ken stood still in shock for a good minute, before blinking and breaking out of his trance. He quickly opened the book he still held in hand, eyes widening at seeing what was written down. 'Thanks for all the help Kaneki-san! From, Takatsuki Sen' Ken couldn't believe what he held in his hand, a real autographed book from Takatsuki Sen, then the rest of the events caught up to him. He had met and talked with the real Takatsuki Sen! And then, his voice spoke out to the empty air around him "...Takatsuki Sen is a girl?"

* * *

Time had passed, and the sun had set across the horizon, Ken and Rize had spent the day looking through the store, recomending books to one another and generally having a good time. They were now walking along the mostly deserted residential streets, on their way to their homes, making conversation as they walked. "Really? You're type AB Rize? Me too!" Ken said with a large smile on his face, glad to find something in common with his crush.

"Really? What a coincidence." Rize looked down, a pensive look on her face as she said "Our reading choices...and our ages too." She looked up and gave Ken a large smile before saying "We sure have a lot in common, don't we Kaneki-kun?" The two walked past a pair of girls, one of whom gave a glance back at the couple, before turning around and catching up with her friend.

The two stopped at a crossroad, with Ken rubbing behind his head before saying "Thank you for today Rize-san, I had a great time! Well, I'm in the other direction so..." He began to move down the other path, before Rize spoke up.

"Um, Kaneki-kun." Seeing that she had grabbed his attention she continued "Well, there have been some...incidents around where I live, the ones involving those ghouls. I've been worried about it ever since." She brought her hands up to her mouth, covering it, as if she couldn't even stand to speak of the incident. "I think about it so much, sometimes I can't even sleep at night."

Seeing Rize like this...Ken knew he couldn't just let the poor girl walk home on her own, and without a second thought offered to walk her home. Keeping her occupied with a story about himself, Hide, and some fireworks, hoping the happy story would take her mind away from the horror of the ghoul attacks. They decided to take a shortcut through an alley, while normally an alley next to a construction site in the middle of the night would cause some nervousness, the two seemed to be at ease. Ignoring their place and instead focusing on each other.

As they were about halfway through, Rize stopped, and turned toward Ken. Ken raised an eyebrow but stopped as well. Rize took a small step forward and said "You know Kaneki-kun, at Anteiku, whenever you were working, I noticed you watching me..." A blush slowly crept up Ken's face and he began to stutter out an apology, before Rize surprised him and took more steps toward him, ending when she was practically against his chest. Looking up at him she continued "Well you know Kaneki-kun... while you were looking at me..." She leaned up, and whispered in his ear, "I was looking at you as well."

A sense of relief washed over him, that he hadn't ruined his chances with such a beautiful woman. Even more when he realized what she said, that she was watching him, had feelings for him! This elated feeling was quickly cut short however, by the sudden sharp pain coming from his shoulder, something wet dripping down from the pain. He glanced over to see an open wound where his shoulder was, next to it was Rize, with red splotches on her chin. Rize made an audible gulp, before moaning in pleasure, her eyes slowly opened and if he had been able to, Ken would have gasped in shock. Her purple eyes that Ken would normally have been able to spend hours just looking at had changed, now the veins surrounding her eyes were bulged and looked almost as if they were about to burst, her eyes themselves had turned black with red sclera, and when she turned them to Ken, they didn't look at him as someone on a date would, or even how someone would look at another person, they looked at him like a hungry man looked at a buffet, like a predator looking at its prey.

Stunned, Ken fell backward, tripping over his own feet and landing backwards. He began shuffling a bit, his body instinctively attempting to get away from something that caused that much pain even though his mind was paralyzed by this sudden turn of events. 'What is this?...' Ken thought to himself, still unable to come to terms that this seemingly shy but kind girl had suddenly tore out part of his shoulder. 'Maybe...maybe I'm just hallucinating or something...there's no way Rize-chan would...' No, he knew that he wasn't hallucinating, the throbbing in his shoulder made sure of that, the blood that was dripping down his back.

"Ahh, delicious." Rize's voice broke Ken out of his trance, his eyes darting up to see her lick some stray drops of blood off her hand. When her eyes met his they seemed to light up in delight, and she said "Mmm, you taste so good, Ka-Ne-Ki-Kun." She slowly began to walk forward, continuing "You know, Kaneki-kun, there's a scene in 'The Black Goats Egg' I really love. Where the Black Goat catches a man who's running away in bewilderment, and rips out aaaalllllll~ his entrails," Despite the morbid subject she was talking of, Rize's serene smile never dropped, and her hand moved up to muss up her hair and the other moved to cover her face as she finished with "No matter how many time I read it. that part _**ALWAYS MAKES ME SHUDDER**_ " Rize's hands quickly returned to their place at her side, her glasses being knocked askew by the sudden movement.

Seeing Ken's face frozen in a rictus of horror, eyes wide and breath coming in short gasps made Rize chuckle before stating "Yes, you never considered it did you?" Rize quickly doubled over, never taking her eyes off Ken's, the back of her dress began to bulge near the base of her spine, as if her skin itself was boiling. "That I am a Ghoul!" with this sudden declaration, and with a now crazed smile on her lips her dress burst where it had been bulging, and four new limbs emerged from the hole. The limbs seemed to be pure muscle, with some sinew even being visible, they were considerably longer than Rize's arms or legs, and ended in a simple curve with a hook.

With tears now streaming down Ken's face, and him seemingly understanding the position he was now in, Rize's smile took a more sinister tone as she said "Oh Kaneki-kun... You're making me shudder" With those words Ken's mind finally regained control, and shot off down the alleyway. His undamaged arm pumping furiously as he tried to put as much distance between himself and that...thing. When suddenly he felt his leg tugged back, falling on his uninjured shoulder and dragged backwards, until he was on his back in front of Rize once again. She had a kind, almost motherly smile on her face as she said "Got you!"

One of her monstrous limbs moved down in front of Ken, taking up the majority of his view, as she said "This is probably the first Ghoul claw you've seen huh? Then I'll make this memorable for you Kaneki-kun, I'll gently scratch around inside your stomach. Heheheh." Ken's hands were scrambling backwards when they finally gripped a pen, taking whatever he could Ken quickly brought the pen up and jammed it into the Ghoul claw, distracting Rize for just long enough to start down the alley once again.

An annoyed expression was on Rize's face, before she sent her claw down after him once again, this time wrapping around his waist and throwing him into the construction yard. Ken groaned in pain as his back and head slammed into a concrete wall, nearly knocking him unconscious, but, he attempted to get to his feet once again, when his stomach was pierced by the claw, forcing him to cough up blood and lurch forward. The pain...it was too much, his hearing was already gone, his vision quickly following. He could see Rize talking, but couldn't hear what she was saying, she seemed to be ready to come in for the kill. He could see his life flash before his eyes, his mother's hamburger steak, spending time at Anteiku, Hide, Manager, Irimi, Koma, Touka... he was going to leave them behind. He was going to be...alone. 'No...I don't want to be...please...Manager, Hide...Irimi, Koma...Touka...someone please...save me...'

Suddenly, Rize glanced upward, shock on her face as she attempted to raise her claws above herself, when steel beams fell on the unsuspecting woman. Crushing her in an instant, a pool of blood forming where Rize once stood. Ken could see some people gathering, likely to see what the loud noise was, before his vision began to dim, slowly losing consciousness.

* * *

Kaneki Ken was floating.

He didn't know what he was floating in, or ever where he was, but the sensation he was experiencing could only be described as floating. And floating only occurred in water right? So Kaneki must be underwater. But he didn't feel the need to breath, so maybe he wasn't in water? Regardless, Kaneki Ken seemed to be in an odd place, and if he focused, he could hear voices. The voices sounded concerned, but so far away. Ken wondered what they were worrying about? They should be like him, floating, without even having to worry about breathing, it was great.

"..am...wh...u..." said the voices, in their worried tone. Ken was curious about what they were talking about, so he concentrated harder, hoping to hear more from the voices. "...100...phine...ther...don't...tak...blame..." they said this time, sounding even more flustered, he was even able to hear some bustling around in addition to the voices. Their fragmented voices continued on for some time, before finally dying down. As the voices ended, Ken could feel a tug on him, pulling himself upwards, he allowed himself to be pulled by the force, curious as to what would happen.

However, as he was pulled farther and farther up, Ken began to hear another voice. One that seemed to be only speaking in whispers, one that seemed to be much closer than the other voices, and yet, so much farther away. Though Ken wanted to learn what this voice was whispering to him, he was filled with a sense of dread by it. That if he listened to this voice...very bad things would happen.

Before he could make a decision, Ken was suddenly pulled out of the water, his eye opening and seeing various blobs walking around him.

Before he had graduated from High School, one of Ken's teachers imparted a piece of wisdom on the class, telling them that they were the leads in their own stories, as well as players in others. Thus, he asked the class to write what kind of story they would be the main character in, so that they could see how they viewed themselves. Though most chose comedies and action stories to star in, with some choosing more dramatic options, Ken's option would always stick with his teacher. He had written _'I'm just a regular High School student who likes to read. There's really not anything remarkable about me. But, if for arguments sake, you had to write a story with me as the main character, then it would surely be... A tragedy.'_

And if the teacher could see Ken now, various tubes inserted into his body, bruises and discoloration covering it, and a single, black eye with red sclera staring up into the ceiling, he would be inclined to agree with the young boys assessment.

* * *

Sunday was an unusual day at Anteiku, the slight chill combined with a weekend day would normally mean a busy day, running around for the staff, flashing smiles as they did so. While on the surface, this seemed to be the case, the cafes "special" clientele, as well as most of the regulars could tell something was off. Koma was unusually quiet, not making as many of his loud and boisterous comments, the manager too, seemed to be lost in thought for most of the day, though he still managed to greet the customers coming in. Irimi however, was the most noticeable today, though she went about her duties normally, many could tell the change in her, an aura of despair seemed to be around her, her smiles seemed paper thin, as if a strong breeze could destroy it.

Though there was some gossip about what was going on, it was only a few of the regulars who were able to figure out exactly what had caused this shift in the staff, noticing the lack of a certain black haired boy who just so happened to be seen with a purple haired glutton a few days ago. Thus, they gave a simple, solemn nod to the staff, before taking their leave.

The day had seemed to drag on for Kaya Irimi, but as the sun began to set she was glad she could finally close up the store and be done with it for today, cursing the place for bringing up formerly fond memories. Suddenly, the bell at the door rang, causing Irimi to turn and tell whomever wandered in that they were about to close, when her heart stopped at who she saw standing at the door. Very few people that came in had blonde hair such as this young man, which would make the boy stand out in the low key cafe even if it wasn't known how often he would hang around, talking to a certain black haired young man.

Irimi swallowed the lump in her throat before saying "H-Hide-san. What can I do for you?"

Hide gave a wide smile before speaking in his usual loud voice "Hey, Kaneki hasn't come in has he? I've been trying to get a hold of the guy all day, but my calls just go to voicemail."

Irimi had to fight as hard as she could to just bring a smile up on her face, and say "No he hasn't. If he does come by then I'll be sure to have him let you know." Feeling her resolve to begin to crack, she quickly excused herself and all but ran upstairs.

Hide simply looked at her retreating form curiously, before shrugging his shoulders and saying to the manager and Koma "Eh, if Kaneki's had his phone off all day after a date, maybe he got really lucky haha." Waving goodbye Hide slipped his headphones on and walked out to the street.

Once he was gone, Koma and Yoshimura looked at one another, before finishing the cleaning and moving upstairs, following after Irimi. Upon reaching her in a small dining room area, Koma sat down across from Irimi while Yoshimura began to prepare a cup of coffee for the trio. As the smell hit their sensitive noses their eyes began to glaze, the current blend that Yoshimura was pouring was one that they had gotten for Kaneki as his first cup of coffee, though Irimi protested that he was too young. Once they all had a cup of the brew, they raised their cups in a toast, to the young man they would never see again. Irimi at this point had lost the control she had held to so tightly while working, and with tears falling down her face and sobs wrenching from her throat, shoulders shaking as she did so. Koma was more composed, but the tears silently streaking down his face were more than noticeable. Only Yoshimura had his face dried, however if one could see his eyes they would see deep pools of despair, held by one who had seen and taken many lives, and was now forced to accept another one lost.

Placing his cup down, Yoshimura placed his hand on Irimi's shoulder, his head lowered as he said "I know it is hard, Kaneki-kun will surely be missed. But, perhaps this is for the best." Ignoring the two surprised gasps, Yoshimura explained "There is nothing we could have done for him in this situation without revealing who and what we really are. And I have noticed Kaneki-kuns curious glances at the freezer...if he had gone to investigate...Anteiku is too important to the ward to be gone. So, let us remember Kaneki-kun as he was...a brave young man, and a dear friend." Slowly he brought his glass up high, and said with a voice more tired than anything else "To Kaneki." His actions were repeated by his two companions, before the room fell into silence, with a common thought running through all of their minds cursing their biology for not allowing them to drown their sorrows in sake, as they had seen humans do many a time.

* * *

 **Aogiri Tree Base, 11th Ward, Tokyo Japan**

The eleventh ward was a battle zone.

That is the only way many inside and outside said ward would be able to describe it, walking through the streets one would think they were in a war torn country, not the capital of a highly advanced country. Streets were largely empty even during the day, with the few who actually brave the streets moving quickly, their backs hunched and praying that they would be able to make it to their destinations safely. Children were kept home rather than risking the walk to school, if they hadn't already been sent to live with family outside the ward. The only upside to this arrangement was the lack of human on human crime, but only in a trade off for a very high ghoul on human crime rate, with a few of the more daring ghouls even eating in the daylight, in the alleys just off the street.

The cause of this sorry state of affairs you might ask? It would be none other than an organization calling itself, "Aogiri Tree", a organization said to have spawned from the darkest pits of the twenty-fourth ward. The organization boasts a wide assortment of high ranking ghouls, and claims that their leader is a natural one eyed Ghoul, though only higher ups in the organization can claim to have met him.

Currently, said higher ups, known as "Executives" were having a meeting in their main base in the ward, discussing a future attack. In the room there were several figures, a white haired man wearing a red mask and a white robe attempting to lead the discussion onto it's proper path. This man was known as Tatara, was one of the few foreign Ghouls part of Aogiri Tree, and surprisingly one of the highest ranked among it. Next to him stood a figure that seemed to be his exact opposite, with black hair, a black robe, and a mask covering their entire face marked with only a mouth. This was Noro, one of the more mysterious members of Aogiri Tree, and one that none had heard speak.

Standing opposite them was a large beast of a man, heavy set with wide shoulders and a flat face, this man was Yamori, also known as Jason of the thirteenth ward. Clad in his fitted white suit, that his subordinates derived their name from, the man looked as if he would rather be anywhere else at this moment, a bored look on his face. Standing near him was a young man, no older than fourteen, his blue hair in a bedraggled style, and dressed in all black clothing with a purple scarf around his neck. This was Ayato Kirishima, the newest executive in Aogiri.

And finally, sitting down in the center of the room was a young person, older than Ayato but younger than Tatara. Their name was Eto, wearing a purple robe with the sleeves torn off and small ears on the hood. Not a single feature on their body was discernible due to the bandages that were wrapped around every inch of their body. Eto was drawing pictures on the dust that covered the unused rooms floor, giggling to them self every now and then.

Just as Tartara was about to bring the occupants of the room back to the task at hand, the single door to the room squeaked open, causing Tartara to turn his glare at the intruder. The young Aogiri Tree recruit shrank from the glares intensity, and quickly spoke, hoping to be spared the sight of their entrails on the floor from Tartara's wrath, "Y-you asked for us to bring any news of Rize Kamishiro-san to you immediately Tartara-sama."

Hearing the nature of the interruption caused Tartara to let up his glare a small bit, and nodded for the messenger to continue. Swallowing the lump in their throat they continued "W-we just received word from some of our contacts, saying that Rize-san has been in the human news. T-they claim that she was in an accident in an industrial yard in the twentieth ward along with a Kaneki Ken, and...um..." Seeing her hesitance caused Tartara to return his glare to it's full power, the messenger quickly squeaked out "They say she died and her organs were put into Kaneki-san!"

Seeing that the messenger had finished, Tartara dismissed them with a flick of his wrist, turning back to the Executives as the door closed. "This is surely a ruse. No doctor would miss that Rize is a Ghoul, much less use her organs for transplantation into a human anyway. Inform the Bin brothers, the search for Rize Kamishiro will be in the wards adjacent to the twentieth, before moving into said ward itself. Rize can not hide from us forever. Now then, back to our next assault..."

As Tartara continued his speech, Eto it seemed, had zoned out, focusing entirely on their drawing. If one looked, they would see a name having been written in the dust, in perfect calligraphy. "Heheh~" giggled Eto, as they steeped their fingers in front of their face, proud of their accomplishment.

In the dust the words spelt out, "Kaneki Ken"

* * *

Authors Note: Hi everyone! Sorry for the bit of delay for this chapter, but I got a new job that has been kicking my butt with hours recently, should be better now though! So, not a lot to say from me, except that we are finally starting to pick up steam here! So with that, and the newest changes in the manga, I have a question for you all, this one can be responded either here or in the poll on my profile, as it will be replacing the previous poll. So, the chapter question is: Who is your favorite version of Kaneki? Is it the OG Kaneki? White-hair/Shiro-neki? Haise Sasaki? Or Red-hair/Kaneki Potter? I can't wait to hear your responses! And as always, even if you don't want to answer the question, feel free to ask any questions, comment on anything you saw, or even just say hi, feel free to do so!

And so, as always, stay classy internet!

Review Responses:

 **The Legendary Dragon Trainer:** Here you go!

 **Tmax99:** Thank you very much! I'm glad your liking both the story and Tokyo Ghoul in general!

 **Lovelydragonfly:** Thank you very much! I'm glad that you like the story so much!

 **Sondrex76:** Thank you for reading! I hope you have a great day as well!

 **MechaJesus2:** Maybe...or maybe I'll trick everyone and make it KanekiXShuu heheh

 **Mr I Hate Znt Nobles Kill Em:** To be honest I giggled when I imagined the manager, wide eyed and in shock as Eto walked into his store, would be great haha.

 **xxxDreamingFlowerxxx:** Ch1- Thanks! And I do have to say, the treatment Kaneki received from his aunt struck a personal chord with me as well, since growing up one thing that was ingrained was the belief that you care for your family above all else, and to see that happen made my blood boil. Though with the new light shown on his life with his mother, it would appear Kaneki didn't even have a happy life with his mother, and maybe his life with his aunt wasn't exactly as it was shown...

Ch2- I'm glad your liking it! And I would say at that point, Ayato became more of his reclusive self, but about to leave and go on his own way. And yea, it would take a while for Touka to accept a human Kaneki. And I agree, I just wish I they would have explained the motivations more than they did, since that's a very large part of Tokyo Ghoul, why the characters act like they do.

Ch3- I'm glad you like it! No, the girl at the end of the chapter was Rize, tasting some of Kaneki's blood. Though I wouldn't have put it past her, I implied that the girl was killed by Touka when she took care of the Ghouls attacking Kaneki, hence her telling Yoshimura that Yomo should have come with a body earlier. And yep, that is indeed Takatsuki!

 **Delta Maruader:** She didn't, but I believe in a chapter of Tokyo Ghoul, it's mentioned that she helps either Touka or Hinami with learning some things.

 **Scarease:** If I do need some I will be sure to check with you!

 **Guest:** Here she issss!

 **Nissangtrlover2569:** I'm glad you loved it! And here's another update for you!

 **FlawlessMirage:** Well, here's the answer to one of your questions haha. As for the other...what kind of author would I be if I didn't have some surprises in store?

 **Guest:** I haven't quite made my decision yet, but I believe I will be going for manga based, with some anime elements thrown in.

 **MaxBacon:** Thank you very much! And here's the next for ya!

 **Oriko:** Thank you very much! And that is pretty close to my own theory, very interesting.

 **Chapter Preview:**

 _"No please...I...I DON'T WANT TO BE A MONSTER!"_

 _"What, were you keeping him around so you could have him whenever?"_

 **Next time: A Monster**


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